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LAFS Aligned Middle School

TASK CARDS

Main Idea

FLORIDA Standards Assessment

Main Idea

The Topic

The Point

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Main Idea

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What the text is mostly about. (The big idea.)

Examples and

details prove and

support the main

idea.

Main Idea

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Excerpt from The Outsiders By S. E. Hinton � When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home. I was wishing I looked like Paul Newman--- he looks tough and I don't--- but I guess my own looks aren't so bad. I have light-brown, almost-red hair and greenish-gray eyes. I wish they were more gray, because I hate most guys that have green eyes, but I have to be content with what I have. My hair is longer than a lot of boys wear theirs, squared off in back and long at the front and sides, but I am a greaser and most of my neighborhood rarely bothers to get a haircut. Besides, I look better with long hair. �

Excerpt from Matilda By Roald Dahl � By the time she was three, Matilda had taught herself to read by studying newspapers and magazines that lay around the house. At the age of four, she could read fast and well and she naturally began hankering after books. The only book in the whole of this enlightened household was something called Easy Cooking belonging to her mother, and when she had read this from cover to cover and had learnt all the recipes by heart, she decided she wanted something more interesting. "Daddy," she said, "do you think you could buy me a book?" "A book,” he said. "What d'you want a flaming book for?" "To read, Daddy." "What's wrong with the telly, for heaven's sake? We've got a lovely telly with a twelve-inch screen and now you come asking for a book! You're getting spoiled, my girl!" �

Main Idea

Test Prep created by THE SMALL CLASSROOM Copyright � 2017


Part A: What is the main idea?

A The narrator likes movies.

B The narrator wishes he was Paul Newman.

C The narrator is content with his appearance.

D The narrator looks better with long hair.

�

Part B: Which sentence from the text best supports your answer in Part A? A Paul Newman and a ride home.

B Besides, I look better with long hair.

C I have light-brown, almost-red hair and greenish- gray eyes.

D I was wishing I looked like Paul Newman. �

Open Response: What does the narrator believe

about appearances? Support your answer with

details from the text.

�

What is the main idea? � A Matilda can read fast.

B Matilda is eager to learn and read more.

C Matilda is interested in cookbooks.

D Matilda’s dad won’t buy her a new book.

� What is the dialog in the end mostly about? Select two options. A Her father getting angry.

B Her father thinking she is spoiled.

C Her wanting a new book from her father.

D Her father liking television.

E How her father does not understand her need for a book. �

Open Response: Why do you think “Daddy” response to Matilda in this way?

�

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Main Idea

Main Idea

Excerpt from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory By Roald Dahl Charlie Bucket stared around the gigantic room in which he now found himself. The place was like a witch’s kitchen! All

about him black metal pots were boiling and bubbling on huge stoves, and kettles were hissing and pans were sizzling, and strange iron machines were clanking and spluttering, and there were pipes running all over the ceiling and walls, and the whole place was filled with smoke and steam and delicious rich smells. Mr. Wonka

himself had suddenly become even more excited than usual, and anyone could see that this was the room he loved best of all. He was hopping about among the saucepans and the machines like a child among his Christmas presents, not knowing which thing to look at

first. He lifted the lid from a huge pot and took a sniff; then he rushed over and dipped a finger into a barrel of sticky yellow stuff and had a taste; then he skipped across to one of the machines and turned half a dozen knobs this way and that; then he peered anxiously through the glass door

of a gigantic oven, rubbing his hands and cackling with delight at what he saw inside. Then he ran over to another machine, a small shiny affair that kept going phut-phut-phut-phut-phut, and every time it went phut, a large green marble dropped out of it into a basket on the floor.

�

Excerpt from The Gathering Blue By Lois Lowry � "Mother?”

There was no reply. She hadn't expected one. Her mother had been dead now for four days, and Kira could tell that

the last of the spirit was drifting away.�

"Mother." She said it again, quietly, to whatever was leaving. She thought that she could feel its leave-taking, the way one could feel a small whisper of breeze at night. Now she was all alone. Kira felt the aloneness, the uncertainty, and a great sadness.

This had been her mother, the warm and vital woman whose name had been Katrina. Then after the brief and

unexpected sickness, it had become the body of Katrina, still containing the lingering spirit. After four sunsets and sunrises, the spirit too was gone. It was simply a body. Diggers would come and sprinkle a layer of soil over the flesh, but even so it would be eaten by the clawing, hungry

creatures that came at night. Then the bones would scatter, rot, and crumble to become part of the earth. Kira wiped briefly at her eyes, which had filled suddenly with tears. She had loved her mother, and would miss her terribly. But it� was time for her to go. She wedged her

walking stick in the soft ground, leaned on it, and pulled herself up. �



Part A: What is the main point of the text? A Charlie’s discovery of the gigantic room.

B The boiling pots and kettles.

C Seeing the machine that makes green candy.

D To learn about the room through Mr. Wonka’s excitement and discoveries. � Part B: Which sentence from the text best supports your answer in Part A? A The place was like a witch’s kitchen!

B Charlie Bucket stared around the gigantic room in which he now found himself.

C Mr. Wonka himself had suddenly become even more excited than usual, and anyone could see that this was the room he loved best of all.

D He lifted the lid from a huge pot and took a sniff. Open Response: Summarize Mr. Wonka’s excitement. Include details from the text.

What is the main idea?

A The girl’s overwhelming sadness after the loss of her mother.

B The girl’s realization and acceptance of her mother’s death.

C The spirit leaving her mother after her passing.

D The girl thinking about what will happen to her mother. � Which idea does the author emphasize throughout the text? Select two options. A sickness D loneliness

B acceptance E understanding

C sadness F spiritual � Open Response: Summarize the girl’s feelings throughout the text. Include details from the text.

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Main Idea

Main Idea

Excerpt from Sister Hood of the Traveling Pants By Ann Brashares �

Once there were four girls who shared a pair of pants. The girls were all different sizes and shapes,

and yet the pants fit each of them. You may think this is a suburban myth. But I know it's true, because I am one of them � one of the sisters of the Traveling

Pants. We discovered their magic last summer, purely by

accident. The four of us were splitting up for the first time in our lives. Carmen had gotten them from a secondhand place without even bothering to try

them on. She was going to throw them away, but by chance, Tibby spotted them. First Tibby tried them; then me, Lena; then Bridget; then Carmen.

By the time Carmen pulled them on, we knew something extraordinary was happening. If the same

pants fit � and I mean really fit � the four of us, they aren't ordinary. They don't belong completely to the world of things you can see and touch. My sister,

Effie, claims I don't believe in magic, and maybe I didn't then. But after the first summer of the

Traveling Pants, I do. �

Excerpt from Pretty Little Liars By Sara Shepard

Imagine it's a couple of years ago, the summer between seventh and eighth grade. You're tan

from lying out next to your rock-lined pool, you've got on your new Juicy sweats (remember when everybody wore those?), and

your mind's on your crush, the boy who goes to that other prep school whose name we won't

mention and who folds jeans at Abercrombie in the mall. You're eating your Cocoa Krispies just how you like 'em --- doused in skim milk --- and

you see this girl's face on the side of the milk carton. missing. She's cute --- probably cuter than you --- and has a feisty look in her eyes.

You think, Hmm, maybe she likes soggy Cocoa Kr ispies too . And you bet she'd think

Abercrombie boy was a hottie as well. You wonder how someone so . . . well, so much like you went missing. You thought only girls who

entered beauty pageants ended up on the sides of milk cartons. Well, think again.



Part A: What is the main idea? A Four friends were connected through a special pair of pants.

B A pair of pants called the Traveling Pants.

C Carmen finding a pair of pants from a second-hand shop.

D The girls believing in magic. � Part B: Which sentence from the text best supports your answer in Part A? A Once there were four girls who shared a pair of pants.

B We discovered their magic last summer, purely by accident.

C First Tibby tried them; then me, Lena; then Bridget; then Carmen.

D They don't belong completely to the world of things you can see and touch. � Open Response: Why did the author include the fact that the pants fit all the girls?

What is the main idea? A The narrator enjoying her

summer break by the pool.

B The importance of a middle school crush.

C A middle school girl wondering how an

ordinary looking girl, like her, could go missing.

D The girl’s picture on the side of a milk carton to announce she is missing.

� What is the importance of all the details about the

narrator’s day by the pool? Select two options. A To emphasize what she likes to do.

B To show she is ordinary like the reader.

C To remind the reader they were once in

middle school.

D To scare the reader about missing people.

E To connect with the reader. � Open Response: What is the main topic? �

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Main Idea

Main Idea

Excerpt from The Isle of the Lost By Melissa de la Cruz. Once upon a time, during a time after all the happily-ever-afters, and perhaps even after the ever-afters after that, all the evil villains of the world were banished from the United Kingdom of Auradon and imprisoned on the Isle of the Lost. There, underneath a protective dome that kept all manner of enchantment out of their clutches, the terrible, the treacherous, the truly awful, and the severely sinister were cursed to live without the power of magic. King Beast declared the villains exiled forever. Forever, as it turns out, is quite a long time. Longer than an enchanted princess can sleep. Longer, even, then an imprisoned maiden’s tower of golden hair. Longer than a week of being turned into a frog, and certainly much longer than waiting for a prince to finally get around to placing that glass slipper on your foot already. Yes, forever is a long, long, long time. Ten years, to be specific. Ten years that these legendary villains have been trapped on a floating prison of rock and rubble. Okay, so you might say ten years isn’t such a long time, considering; but for these conjurers and witches, viziers and sorcerers, evil queens and dark fairies, to live without magic was a sentence worse than death. (And some of them were brought back from death, only to be placed on this island—so, um, they should know.) Without their awesome powers to dominate and hypnotize, terrorize and threaten, create thunderclouds and lightning storms, transform and disguise their features or lie and manipulate their way into getting exactly what they wanted, they were reduced to hardscrabble lives, eking a living selling and eating slop, scaring no one but their own minions, and stealing from each other. It was hard even for them to imagine they once had been great and powerful, these poisoners of forest apples and thieves of undersea voices, these usurpers of royal powers and owners of petulant mirrors. Now their lives were anything but powerful. Now they were ordinary. Everyday. �

Excerpt from The Host By Stephenie Meyer "This soul was specially picked for the assignment," Darren said soothingly.

"She is exceptional among our kind�braver than most. Her lives speak for

themselves. I think she would volunteer, if it were possible to ask her." "Who

among us would not volunteer if we were asked to do something for the

greater good? But is that really the case here? Is the greater good served

by this? The question is not her willingness, but what it is right to ask any

soul to bear." The Healing students were discussing the hibernating soul as

well. Fords could hear the whispers clearly; their voices were rising now,

getting louder with their excitement.

"She's lived on six planets."

"I heard seven."

"I heard she's never lived two terms as the same host species."

"Is that possible?"

"She's been almost everything. A Flower, a Bear, a Spider�"

"A See Weed, a Bat�"

"Even a Dragon!"

"I don't believe it�not seven planets."

"At least seven. She started on the Origin."

"Really? The Origin?"

"Quiet please!" Fords interrupted. "If you cannot observe professionally

and silently, then I will have to ask you to remove yourselves."

Abashed, the six students fell silent and edged away from one another. �



Part A: What is the main idea?

A Without their awesome powers, the villains were

reduced to hardscrabble lives.

B The United Kingdom of Auradon

imprisoned all the villains on the Isle of the Lost.

C Forever is a very long time, longer than

an enchanted princess can sleep.

D All the villains of the world were forced

to live ordinary lives without their magic and powers. � Part B: Which phrase from the text best supports your answer in Part A?

A Forever, as it turns out, is quite a long time.

B There, underneath a protective dome that kept all manner of enchantment out of

their clutches

C And some of them were brought back from death, only to be placed on this island

D Now they were ordinary.

� Open Response: Explain if the main

idea is stated or implied. � � � � �

What is the main idea? A The students and their excitement.

B Learning about the soul and all her accomplishments.

C The teacher is upset with the students’ professionalism.

D The soul’s willingness to volunteer and help. � What do the students believe?

Select two options.

A This soul is special and different from the rest.

B The soul is just as unique as all the rest.

C The soul is interesting.

D They would also like to live a life as a dragon.

E The soul will be unsuccessful in this life.

Open Response: Which details from the text support your answers for what the students believe? � �

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Main Idea

Main Idea

Excerpt from Sea of Monsters: Percy & the Olympians By Rick Riordan � My nightmare started like this. I was standing on a deserted street in some little beach town. It was the middle of the night. A storm was blowing. Wind and rain ripped at the palm trees along the sidewalk. Pink and yellow stucco buildings lined the street, their windows boarded up. A block away, past a line of hibiscus bushes, the ocean churned. Florida, I thought. Though I wasn’t sure how I knew that. I’d never been to Florida. Then I heard hooves clattering against the pavement. I turned and saw my friend Grover running for his life. Yeah, I said�hooves. Grover is a satyr. From the waist up, he looks like a typical gangly teenager with a peach-fuzz goatee and a bad case of acne. He walks with a strange limp, but unless you happen to catch him without his pants on (which I don’t recommend), you’d never know there was anything unhuman about him. Baggy jeans and fake feet hide the fact that he’s got furry hindquarters and hooves. Grover had been my best friend in sixth grade. He’d gone on this adventure with me and a girl named Annabeth to save the world, but I hadn’t seen him since last July, when he set off alone on a dangerous quest�a quest no satyr had

ever returned from.

�

Excerpt from The Heir By Kiera Cass I could not hold my breath for seven minutes. I couldn’t even make it to one. I once tried to run a

mile in seven minutes after hearing some athletes could do it in four but failed spectacularly when a side stitch crippled me about halfway in. However,

there was one thing I managed to do in seven minutes that most would say is quite impressive: I

became queen. By seven tiny minutes I beat my brother, Ahren, into the world, so the throne that ought to have been his was mine. Had I been born a

generation earlier, it wouldn’t have mattered. Ahren was the male, so Ahren would have been the heir. Alas, Mom and Dad couldn’t stand to watch

their firstborn be stripped of a title by an unfortunate but rather lovely set of breasts. So

they changed the law, and the people rejoiced, and I was trained day by day to become the next ruler of Ill�a. What they didn’t understand was that

their attempts to make my life fair seemed rather�unfair to me.

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Part A: What is the main idea of the dream? A Grover is in danger.

B The main character is in danger.

C Florida is in the middle of a hurricane.

D The storm is building.

Part B: Which sentence from the text best supports your answer in Part A? A My nightmare started like this.

B Pink and yellow stucco buildings lined the street, their windows boarded up.

C I turned and saw my friend Grover running for his life.

D He’d gone on this adventure with me and a girl named Annabeth to save the world � Open Response: Describe Grover. Use details from the text. �

� �

What is the main idea? A Ahren would have been

king in an earlier generation.

B Her being born seven minutes before her brother.

C How she became Queen and her feelings

about it.

D She is the next ruler of Ill�a. � Which statements are supported by the text?

Select two options.

A She is unsure about ruling.

B Ahren should have been king.

C She can accomplish anything.

D She sees the rule change as unfair.

E Mom and Dad later changed their minds about the law. �

Open Response: What adjectives would you use to describe the narrator? �

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Main Idea

Main Idea

Excerpt from Allegiant By Veronica Roth I pace in our cell in Erudite headquarters, her words echoing in my mind: My name will be Edith Prior, and there is much I am

happy to forget. “So you’ve never seen her before? Not even in pictures?” Christina says, her wounded leg propped up on a pillow. She was shot during our desperate attempt to reveal the Edith Prior video to our city. At the time we had no idea what it would say, or that it would shatter the foundation we stand on, the factions, our identities. “Is she a grandmother or an aunt or

something?” “I told you, no,” I say, turning when I reach the wall. “Prior is�was�my father’s name, so it would have to be on his side of the family. But Edith is an Abnegation name, and my father’s relatives must have been Erudite, so . . .” “So she must be older,” Cara says, leaning her head against the wall. From this angle she

looks just like her brother, Will, my friend, the one I shot. Then she straightens, and the ghost of him is gone. “A few generations back. An ancestor.” “Ancestor.” The word feels old inside me, like crumbling brick. I touch one wall of the cell as I turnaround. The panel is cold and white. My ancestor, and this is the inheritance

she passed to me: freedom from the factions, and the knowledge that my Divergent identity is more important than I could have known. My existence is a signal that we need to leave this city and offer our help to whoever is outside it. “I want to know,” Cara says, running her hand over her face. “I need to know how long

we’ve been here.” �

Excerpt from Obsidian By Jennifer L. Armentout I stared at the pile of boxes in my new bedroom, wishing the

Internet had been hooked up. Not being able to do anything with

my review blog since moving here was like missing an arm or a leg. According to my mom, “Katy’s Krazy Obsession” was my whole

life. Not entirely, but it was important to me. She didn’t get books the way I did. I sighed. We’d been here two days, and there was

still so much left to unpack. I hated the idea of boxes sitting around. Even more than I hated being here. At least I’d finally

stopped jumping at every little creaking sound since moving to

West Virginia and this house that looked like something straight out of a horror movie. It even had a turret—a freaking turret. What

was I supposed to do with that? Ketterman was unincorporated,

meaning it wasn’t a real town.

The closest place was Petersburg—a two or three stoplight town near a few other towns that probably didn’t have a Starbucks. We

wouldn’t get mail at our house. We would have to drive into

Petersburg to get our mail. Barbaric. Like a kick in the face, it hit me. Florida was gone—eaten by the

miles we’d traveled in Mom’s mad dash to start over. It wasn’t that

I missed Gainesville, the weather, my old school, or even our apartment. Leaning against the wall, I rubbed the palm of my

hand over my forehead. I missed Dad.



Part A: What is the main idea? A The character’s ancestors.

B Edith Prior and who she might be.

C The main character’s confusion.

D The video. � Part B: Which sentence from the text best supports your answer in Part A? A “Is she a grandmother or an aunt or something?”

B From this angle she looks just like her brother, Will, my friend, the one I shot.

C The word feels old inside me, like crumbling brick.

D “I need to know how long we’ve been here.” � Open Response: In what ways do the characters think alike?

What is the main idea of the text? A The lack of internet access.

B The main character’s new house and what it looks like.

C The main character’s feeling after moving to a new town.

D The main character missing her old life. � What are some of the narrator’s concerns about moving? Select two options. A not having internet

B missing her father

C being in a small town

D leaving her friends

E the change in weather

� Open Response: After reading the text, what details support your main idea? �

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Main Idea

Main Idea

Excerpt from A Series of Unfortunate Events #1: The Bad Beginning

By Lemony Snicket � If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book. In this book, not only is there no happy ending, there is no happy beginning and very few happy things in the middle. This is because not very many happy things happened in the lives of the three Baudelaire youngsters. Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire were intelligent children, and they were charming, and resourceful, and had pleasant facial features, but they were extremely unlucky, and most everything that happened to them was rife with misfortune, misery, and despair. I'm sorry to tell you this, but that is how the story goes.

�

Excerpt from The Iron Fey By Julie Kagawa � My name is Meghan Chase. In less than twenty-four hours, I’ll be sixteen years old. Sweet sixteen. It has a magical ring to it.

Sixteen is supposed to be the age when girls become princesses and fall in love and go to dances and proms and such. Countless stories, songs, and poems have been written about this wonderful age, when a girl finds true love and the stars shine for her and the handsome prince carries her off into the sunset. I didn’t think it would be that way for me. The

morning before my birthday, I woke up, showered, and rummaged through my dresser for something to wear. Normally, I’d just grab whatever clean-ish thing is on the floor, but today was special. Today was the day Scott Waldron would finally notice me. I wanted to look perfect. Of course,

my wardrobe is sadly lacking in the popular-attire department. While other girls spend hours in front of their closets crying, “What should I wear?” my drawers basically hold three things: clothes from Goodwill, hand-me-downs, and overalls. I wish we weren’t so poor. I know pig farming

isn’t the most glamorous of jobs, but you’d think Mom could afford to buy me at least one pair of nice jeans. I glared at my scanty wardrobe in disgust. Oh, well, I guess Scott will have to be wowed with my natural grace and charm, if I don’t make an idiot of myself in front of him.

�



Part A: What is the main idea? A A description about the story to come.

B A declaration about the Baudelaire family.

C A warning about the story and its sad content.

D A beginning for the end of the story. � Part B: Which sentence from the text best supports your answer in Part A?

A If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book.

B This is because not very many happy things happened in the lives of the three Baudelaire youngsters.

C Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire were intelligent children, and they were charming, and resourceful.

D They were extremely unlucky, and most everything that happened to them was rife with

misfortune. Open Response: How did you decide that this sentence was important in finding the main idea?

�

What is the paragraph mostly about? A Living on a pig farm has left Meghan sad

and upset about her life.

B Before her birthday, Meghan prepares for

hours to get the attention of a special boy at school.

C Meghan dreams about dances, princes, and

true love.

D On the morning of Meghan’s sixteenth

birthday, she gets dressed in her unexciting clothes. � Which statements are best supported by the paragraph? Select two options.

A Meghan is angry.

B Meghan is disappointed.

C Meghan is excited.

D Meghan is unimpressive.

E Meghan is heartbroken.

Open Response: Compare your life to Meghan’s? How are you alike or different?

�

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Main Idea

Main Idea

Excerpt from Life of Pi By Yann Martel �

I was alone and orphaned, in the middle of the Pacific, hanging on to an oar, an adult tiger in front

of me, sharks beneath me, a storm raging about me. Had I considered my prospects in the light of reason, I surely would have given up and let go of

the oar, hoping that I might drown before being eaten. But I don’t recall that I had a single thought

during those first minutes of relative safety. I didn’t even notice daybreak. I held on to the oar, I just held on, God only knows why. The elements

allowed me to go on living. The lifeboat did not sink. Richard Parker kept out of sight. The sharks prowled but did not lunge. The waves splashed me

but did not pull me off. I watched the ship as it disappeared with much burbling and belching.

Lights flickered and went out. I looked about for my family, for survivors, for another lifeboat, for anything that might bring me hope. There was

nothing. Only rain, marauding waves of black ocean and the flotsam of tragedy. The darkness

melted away from the sky. The rain stopped. �

Excerpt from The Scorch Trials By James Dashner She spoke to him before the world fell apart. Hey, are you still asleep? Thomas shifted in his bed, felt a darkness around him like air turned solid, pressing in. At first he panicked; his eyes snapped open as he imagined himself back in the Box--that horrible cube of cold metal that had delivered him to the Glade and the Maze. But there was a faint light, and lumps of dim shadow gradually emerged throughout the huge room. Bunk beds. Dressers. The soft breaths and gurgly snores of boys deep in slumber. Relief filled him. He was safe now, rescued and delivered to this dormitory. No more worries. No more Grievers. No more death. Tom? A voice in his head. A girl's. Not audible, not visible. But he heard it all the same, though never could he have explained to anyone how it worked. Exhaling a deep breath, he relaxed into his pillow, his razor-edged nerves settling down from that fleeting moment of terror. He spoke back, forming the words with his thoughts. Teresa?



Part A: What is the main idea? A The tiger keeps the survivors from safety.

B The ship sinks with no survivors.

C The narrator explains the shipwreck and his survival.

D The elements allow the narrator to survive. � Part B: Which sentence from the text best supports your answer in Part A? A But I don’t recall that I had a single thought during those first minutes of relative safety.

B The elements allowed me to go on living.

C The waves splashed me but did not pull me off.

D The darkness melted away from the sky. � Open Response: What is the theme? Which details from the text support your answer? � �`

What are the main ideas? Select two options. A Teresa spoke to Tom before the world fell apart.

B Tom is scared but then realizes he is safe.

C Tom is confused as he talks to Teresa in his mind.

D Tom thinks about his surroundings.

E The narrator explains how the characters are able to communicate. � Why does the author include the first line? A To suggest there is still hope.

B To inform us about what is happening.

C To let the reader know what they are thinking.

D To hint at danger to come.

� Open Response: Summarize the text in your own words. �

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Main Idea

Main Idea

Excerpt from If I Stay By Gayle Forman � I edge closer and now I know that it's not Teddy lying there. It's me. The blood from my chest has seeped through my shirt, skirt, and sweater, and is now pooling like paint drops on the snow. One of my legs is askew, the skin and muscle peeled away so that I can see white streaks of bone. My eyes are closed and my dark brown hair is wet and rusty with blood. I spin away. This isn't right. This cannot be happening. We are a family, going on a drive. This isn't real. I must have fallen asleep in the car. No! Stop. Please stop. Please wake up! I scream into the chilly air. It's cold. My breath should smoke. It doesn't. I stare down at my wrist, the one that looks fine, untouched by blood and gore, and I pinch as hard as I can. I don't feel a thing. I have had nightmares before�falling nightmares, playing-a-cello-recital-without-knowing-the-music nightmares, breakup-up-with-Adam-nightmares�but I have always been able to command myself to open my eyes, to lift my head from the pillow, to halt the horror movie playing behind my closed lids. I try again. Wake up! I scream. Wake up! Wakeupwakeupwakeup! But I can't. I don't.

�

Excerpt from Throne of Glass By Sarah Maas

After a year of slavery in the Salt Mines of Endovier, Celaena Sardothien was accustomed to being escorted everywhere in

shackles and at sword-point. Most of the thousands of slaves in

Endovier received similar treatment�though an extra half-dozen guards always walked Celaena to and from the mines. That was

expected by Adarlan’s most notorious assassin. What she did not usually expect, however, was a hooded man in black at her side�as

there was now. He gripped her arm as he led her through the shining building in

which most of Endovier’s officials and overseers were housed. They

strode down corridors, up flights of stairs, and around and around until she hadn’t the slightest chance of finding her way out again.

At least, that was her escort’s intention, because she hadn’t failed

to notice when they went up and down the same staircase within a matter of minutes. Nor had she missed when they zigzagged

between levels, even though the building was a standard grid of hallways and stairwells. As if she’d lose her bearings that easily.

She might have been insulted, if he wasn’t trying so hard.

They entered a particularly long hallway, silent save for their footsteps. Though the man grasping her arm was tall and fit, she

could see nothing of the features concealed beneath his hood. Another tactic meant to confuse and intimidate her. The black

clothes were probably a part of it, too. His head shifted in her

direction, and Celaena flashed him a grin. He looked forward again, his iron grip tightening.

It was flattering, she supposed, even if she�didn’t�know what was happening, or why he’d been waiting for her outside the mine

shaft.

�



Part A: What is the main idea? A The girl thinks she is in a nightmare.

B The girl is bleeding and has a broken leg.

C Unable to wake up, the girl looks at her injured self after a car accident.

D Wake up is all she can think. � Part B: Which sentences from the text best supports your answer in Part A? Select two options. A I edge closer and now I know that it's not Teddy lying there.

B My eyes are closed and my dark brown hair is wet and rusty with blood.

C I have had nightmares before.

D I scream into the chilly air

E Wakeupwakeupwakeup! But I can't. � Open Response: How is the text organized?

What are the main ideas? Select two options. A Celaena is flattered by the hooded man.

B Celaena is an expert at remembering directions and not getting lost.

C Celaena is unexpectantly led through a building by a hooded man.

D The hooded man tries to make Celaena lose her way.

E Celaena is captured and made a slave. Why is the first paragraph significant? A To question why this is happening.

B To establish her normal day.

C To explain how dangerous she is.

D To help the reader see why the hooded man is there. � Open Response: What inference can be made about Celaena? �

19

20

Main Idea

Main Idea

Excerpt from Sister Hood of the Traveling Pants By Ann Brashares The Traveling Pants are not only the most beautiful pair of jeans that ever existed, they are kind, comforting, and wise. And also they make you look really good. We, the members of the Sisterhood, were friends before the Traveling Pants. We've known each other since before we were born. Our mothers were all in the same pregnancy aerobics class. I feel this explains something about us. We all have in common that we got bounced on our fetal heads too much.� We were all born within seventeen days of each other. You know how people make a big deal about which twin was born three minutes before the other one? Like it matters? Well, we're like that. We draw great significance from the fact that I'm the oldest-the most mature, the most maternal-and Carmen is the baby. Our mothers started out being close. We had a group play date running at least three days a week until we started kindergarten. Our mothers would gab in whoever's yard it was, drinking iced tea and eating cherry tomatoes. We would play and play and play and occasionally fight. Honestly, I remember my friends' mothers almost as well as my own from that time.

�

Excerpt from Pretty Little Liars By Sara Shepard

Alison, Aria, Spencer, Emily, and Hanna bonded last year when their parents volunteered them

to work Saturday afternoons at Rosewood Day School's charity drive --- well, all except for Spencer, who volunteered herself. Whether or

not Alison knew about the other four, the four knew about Alison. She was perfect. Beautiful,

witty, smart. Popular. Boys wanted to kiss Alison, and girls --- even older ones --- wanted to be her. So the first time Ali laughed at one of

Aria's jokes, asked Emily a question about swimming, told Hanna her shirt was adorable, or commented that Spencer's penmanship

was way neater than her own, they couldn't help but be, well . . . dazzled. Before Ali, the girls had

felt like pleated, high-waisted mom jeans --- awkward and noticeable for all the wrong reasons --- but then Ali made them feel like the

most perfect-fitting Stella McCartneys that no one could afford.

�



Part A: What is the main idea? A The girls have the most beautiful pair of jeans.

B The girls became friends through play dates.

C The girls have known each other and been friends since before they were born.

D The girls’ mothers went to the same pregnancy aerobics class.

Part B: Which sentences from the text best supports your answer in Part A? Select two options. A We've known each other since before we were

born.

B We all have in common that we got bounced on

our fetal heads too much.

C We had a group play date running at least three

days a week until we started kindergarten.

D You know how people make a big deal about

which twin was born three minutes before the other one? � Open Response: How are the girls alike? Include

details from the text to support your answer. �

What are the main ideas? Select two options. A The five friends.

B All the special qualities found in Alison.

C The Rosewood Day School charity drive.

D Everyone wanted to be Alison.

E Alison made the girls feel special.

Which detail does not support the main idea?

A their parents volunteered them to work

Saturday afternoons

B She was perfect

C Ali laughed at one of Aria's jokes

D told Hanna her shirt was adorable

Open Response: How do you feel about Alison? �

Name: Date: Class:

Read the text on each task card and record your answer to each question on the recording sheet below.

Card

Number

1

Multiple Choice

Answers

Short Answer Responses

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10


Read the text on each task card and record your answer to each question on the recording sheet below.

Card

Number

11

Multiple Choice

Answers

Short Answer Responses

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20


Main Idea Task Cards Answer Key

_________________________________________________________________________________

1. C B 11. B A

2. B C&E 12. C A&B

3. D C 13. C A

4. B C&D 14. D B&D

5. A A 15. C B

6. C B&E 16. B&C D

7. D D 17. C B&E

8. B A&C 18. C&D B

9. A C 19. C A&C

10. C A&D 20. B&E A


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